Chapter 187: 188 | The Only Thing Scarier Than a Noisy System Is A Silent One
The system had promised answers. Promised my old life back if I completed the quest. Promised power and ability and everything I’d need to survive in a world that wanted to lock me away and study me like a lab rat.
But the system had been quiet lately.
No notifications. No commentary. No percentage updates or affection meters or sarcastic observations about my life choices.
Just silence where there should have been noise.
I didn’t like it.
Something was changing. Something fundamental about the rules I’d been operating under since waking up in this body.
The question was whether that change was good or very very bad.
Sleep came eventually. Not gently. Not peacefully. The kind of sleep that feels like falling into darkness without knowing when you’ll hit bottom.
Dreams flickered through. Fragments that didn’t connect.
A parking lot. Blood on concrete. The face of someone I couldn’t quite remember.
Noel’s violet hair spread across white sheets.
My father’s cold eyes watching me from across a mahogany desk.
Fire. Everywhere. Consuming everything.
And beneath it all, a voice.
You’re not ready.
I woke to Cheon shaking my shoulder. The room had gone darker. Evening light leaked around the curtain edges.
"It’s six. You need to get up."
I blinked the dreams away. They scattered like smoke. Leaving only the uncomfortable feeling that I’d seen something important and couldn’t remember what.
"Bad dreams?"
"The usual."
Cheon’s hand lingered on my shoulder. Her Essentia pulsed through the contact. Concern wrapped in honey and lightning.
"Mera’s awake. She wants to talk strategy before you leave."
"Of course she does."
I sat up. My body felt heavy. The kind of tired that sleep didn’t fix.
"Shower," Cheon said. "Fifteen minutes. I laid out clothes."
She left before I could argue.
The shower helped. Hot water washed away the dream residue. Steam filled the bathroom. I stood under the spray longer than necessary just to feel something simple and clean.
When I emerged, the clothes Cheon had selected waited on the bed. Dark jeans. A black button-down that fit too well to be accidental. Expensive shoes that probably cost more than most people’s monthly rent.
She wanted me to look good. Dangerous but approachable. The kind of outfit that said I could handle whatever tonight threw at me.
I dressed and checked my reflection.
White hair still damp from the shower. Heterochromatic eyes staring back at me. One grey. One green. Features that SPECIMEN kept at optimal even when the rest of me felt like garbage.
The man in the mirror looked ready for anything.
The man inside that body wasn’t so sure.
Mera waited in the living room. She’d changed into something casual. Leggings and an oversized hoodie that swallowed her small frame. Her red skin looked paler than usual. The horns that normally curved elegantly from her forehead seemed duller.
Burnt out from overusing her ability.
For me.
"You look like shit," I said.
"You look like a guy about to walk into a trap."
"Probably because I am."
She patted the couch cushion beside her. I sat.
"Here’s the plan. Cheon and I will be two blocks away. If you text the word ’pineapple’ I’ll open a portal directly into whatever room you’re in and extract you."
"Pineapple?"
"Random enough you won’t say it by accident. Distinctive enough I’ll know it’s the signal."
"What if I actually want to discuss tropical fruit?"
Mera’s tail wrapped around my wrist. The contact sent her Essentia flowing into me. Cinnamon and shadow. Warmth hiding sharp edges.
"Then you better hope I don’t accidentally kidnap you from a conversation about smoothies."
Fair point.
"What do you actually know about this place? The Crimson Lotus?"
"Upscale club. Private membership. The kind of spot where powerful people do business they don’t want documented." Mera’s tail tightened slightly. "Your sister chose it deliberately. Somewhere public enough that violence would be bad for everyone. Private enough that no one will overhear your conversation."
"Smart."
"Dangerous."
Same thing, really.
Cheon emerged from wherever she’d been hiding with her tablet in hand.
"I pulled the floor plans. The club has three main areas. A public lounge on the first floor. Private rooms on the second. VIP section on the third floor requires special access."
"Let me guess. Vivian has special access."
"Her company card has been used there seventeen times in the past six months."
Of course it had. My father’s daughter doing business in the shadows. Learning the family trade.
I wondered if she hated him as much as I did.
"Rome." Cheon’s voice went serious. "Whatever she tells you tonight. Whatever secrets she claims to have about your father or your abilities or anything else. Don’t make decisions in the moment. Come home. Talk to us. We’ll figure it out together."
"You don’t trust her."
"I don’t trust anyone who contacts people through mysterious messages and demands secret meetings."
"That’s fair."
"But." Cheon hesitated. Unusual for her. "If she does have information. If she knows things that could help you. Don’t dismiss it just because the source is suspicious."
"Covering all the angles?"
"Someone has to."
I stood. Checked my phone. Seven forty-five. Time to go.
Mera rose with me. Her arms wrapped around my waist from behind. Her cheek pressed against my back.
"Don’t die."
"I’ll do my best."
"Rome. I’m serious."
I turned in her embrace. Her gold eyes looked up at me with an intensity that still caught me off guard. Marilyn Cross. The first girl I’d slept with in this world. The woman who’d taught me that survival could include connection.
I kissed her. Brief but real.
"I’ll come home."
"You better."
Cheon waited by the door. When I reached her, she straightened my collar. Brushed invisible lint from my shoulder. All the little gestures that meant something more than their surface actions.
"Text us. Even if it’s just to say things are going fine."
"Yes mom."
"Don’t call me that."
"Yes dear."
"That’s worse."
I kissed her too. She melted into it for half a second before pulling back. Her cheeks flushed pink.
"Go. Before you miss your meeting and make this whole day pointless."
The elevator felt emptier without them. The descent took too long. Gave me too much time to think about everything that could go wrong.
Marco waited with the car. Same professional neutrality. Same black suit.
"The Crimson Lotus, sir?"
"Yes."
